Xmen in the 1700's
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: The X-men are formed in the 1700's
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note: Set in the early 1700's, around 1728 and so on during the reign of Frederick William I of Prussia; who passed a law saying that all Roma found in Prussia were to be killed on sight. Those who surrendered were given ten minutes to pray for their sins and THEN they were killed too. Nice guy huh?  
  
The location at first is Aachen, a city in west-central Germany near Belgium.  
  
***  
He looked skyward, his hands bound behind his back as he asked God to take care of his family and tribe and to keep them safe from the hunters. He spoke in his native tongue, annoying the hunters greatly.  
  
Kurt and his tribe had been resting by the river when they heard the barking of the hunter's dogs. He and his brother immediately drew their swords and told their mother Margali to get the tribe away as fast as possible. They then held the hunters back by fighting them off.  
  
At one point, they split up, Stefan going one way and Kurt the other. Stefan was able to escape from the hunters, and he soon found their tribe. Kurt however, was penned in from all sides and he soon was forced to drop his sword and fall to his knees in surrender, allowing the Gadje to bind his hands and tie a rope around his neck to act as a leash.  
  
One of the men interrupted his prayer, grabbing him by the shoulders and forcing him onto his feet. They put him on top of a horse and put a noose around his neck, waiting for the signal.  
  
When the leader nodded, the horse was spooked and it ran, leaving Kurt behind.  
  
***  
The fall didn't break Kurt's neck however, and whoever had made the noose did not make it properly. For a long time he swung on the branch of the tree, unable to breathe as he gagged and swung back and forth slowly. His vision soon started to darken, starting from the outside of his vision and growing blacker and blacker until he finally lost consciousness.  
  
Kurt felt someone touching him, lifting his head up slowly and tilting it so that his mouth could get opened more easily. He was lying on the ground in someone's arms, and his throat was burning like Hell. Liquid entered his mouth, and it burned his throat and caused him to start to cough and sputter; telling him that he was still alive.  
  
"Easy now." The man said. "You're lucky to still be alive, and I would like to keep it that way." Opening his eyes, Kurt saw everything spinning in lazy circles. When the circles finally came into focus and stopped moving, he found himself looking at a man who was in his wiser years, his head bald and catching some of the sun. His eyes were a gentle blue color, sparkling as he smiled at him.  
  
"Don't try to move too quickly." The man warned. "You might do some more damage to yourself."  
  
"Who..." Kurt immediately regretted trying to speak. His throat burned and he started to have a coughing fit, which made his sore throat as it raged and fumed in protest. The man smiled and shook his head slightly at him.  
  
"My name is Charles Xavier." He said. "Now don't try to speak again. Your throat has obtained quite a bit of damage. However, it shouldn't prove to be permanent or anything." Kurt nodded faintly, his tail flopping lazily at his side. Charles let him take a few more sips of the water, and then he put the water skin away, starting to help him to his feet.  
  
"I'm going to have to take you aboard a ship, Kurt." He said. Kurt looked at him in surprise, raising his eyebrows slightly at the fact that he knew his name. Charles laughed softly, nodding a bit at the questions in his mind.  
  
"Yes, I am aware that you did not tell me your name, Kurt Wagner of the Szardos Tribe." He said. "At least, that's your Gadje name anyway." He added slightly. "I will explain everything on our way to the ship, and don't worry about getting in. I have a camp not too far away with a change of clothing and make-up that will hide your looks and heritage from the people on board."  
  
Kurt looked at him in confusion, wondering where the Hell he was planning on taking him.  
  
"I'm taking you to England." Charles said, helping Kurt to lean on him as they headed off to his camp.  
  
Kurt stopped and looked at him as if he was mad. Charles laughed, understanding what he was thinking.  
  
"I have a school there that is far from any other towns or cities." He said. "No one will be coming to look for Rom there, and if they [i]do[/i] send someone to come looking, we'll be ready to hide you and a few of the other students there."  
  
Kurt tilted his head to one side slightly, cocking an eyebrow. What did he mean by other students?  
  
"My school is a special one, Kurt." Charles explained. "For people with special gifts that set them apart from others. At my school, there is no distinction between people's races, and everyone is equal there due to their added gifts. Take me for example; I can read and control people's minds if I wished to, which is why I was able to find you and answer your questions right now. Your gift is both physical and power oriented. Your appearance sets you apart from others, as well as an ability you have that you don't know you do yet."  
  
Kurt's tail curled up slightly as he blinked at him, wondering what he was talking about with his second gift.  
  
"I'll help you discover it when we get to my school." Charles said. "But there are a few rules you must agree to first." He said, looking at Kurt seriously.  
  
Kurt nodded faintly, waiting to him them.  
  
"You must come into my school with an open mind and an open heart, Kurt. There is no place for any animosity between people there. Everyone is to be respectful of other's beliefs, rituals, and holidays. Any breaking of these two should be reported to me, and they will be dealt with accordingly.  
  
"On the issue of leaving the grounds and going to town. Everyone must go in at least a group of two to make sure nothing goes wrong. We really can't afford to have people burn our school down looking for witches now can we?" Charles asked with a laugh. "If you are willing to obey these rules, you are welcome in my school for as long as you wish to stay."  
  
Kurt smiled and nodded, offering his tail instead of his hand to shake with. Charles took hold of the spade and they shook lightly, smiling as they reached Charles' camp. 


	2. 2

Kurt had not really liked the journey on the boat to England. He was forced to wear Gadje clothes that were tight fitting, and crushed his hidden tail, and he was also forced to wear make-up to cover all of his exposed blue fur. It was smelly and it stuck to his fur badly. He was also unable to speak due to his wounded throat, which started to show signs of scaring that ringed his throat badly.  
  
Charles assured him that everything would be all right once they reached his school and in the mean time, he told Kurt all about his school, and the people who were there and what he meant when he said that they had "gifts".  
  
Kurt was excited to go to Charles' school, but he soon started to feel guilty about this, due to the fact that he had left his tribe back in Prussia, where Frederick William I had people hunting down the Roma and killing them without any mercy whatsoever. Charles sensed his guilt, and he assured Kurt that he would find a way to take care of his tribe back in Prussia.  
  
When the boat finally reached the docks, Kurt followed Charles down the ramp and through some of the officials who checked Charles' passes. When they asked to see Kurt's, Charles told them that Kurt was his servant that he had recently employed him, and that he was waiting to get Kurt's papers all in order.  
  
They let them go, with a little help from Charles' powers of persuasion.  
  
On their way there, Kurt and Charles stopped at a lake and Charles respectively looked away as Kurt took off his Gadje clothes and washed the make-up out of his fur with some soap and a lot of scrubbing. When he was finished, he dressed in his regular clothes, slipping on his large golden hoop earring in his right ear. He smiled a bit, looking down at his reflection in the lake.  
  
***  
The school was like a manor, separated from any towns and surrounded by a lush forest. It had a garden for vegetables and an orchard for any fruit that they needed. A small farm was on the side where cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses were raised for both monetary value and a food source.  
  
It had several floors to it, and Kurt almost thought that it was a castle with all of its elaborate designs, and rooms and floors. He looked over at Charles and raised his eyebrows slightly as he tilted his head to one side.  
  
"I inherited a fortune from my father." Charles said with a shrug. "Come on, I want Hank to check on your throat to see if it's all right for you to speak yet without risking an further damage."  
  
When they entered the mansion, Kurt felt like a dirty pauper entering a cathedral covered in gold and precious gems and stones. He stopped and looked around, his mouth open slightly as he moved in a slow circle, trying to take everything in.  
  
"Are you the new student the Professor was talking about?" Turning around, Kurt found himself looking at a tall young man with fire red hair. His eyes were wrapped in a silken cloth tightly, and he wondered how he had known where to turn his head to act as if he was looking at him.  
  
"Scott, this is Kurt." Charles said. "Kurt, this is my first student; Scott Summers." Smiling, Scott held out his hand and Kurt shook it, tilting his head to one side slightly. "Scott's eyes produce a red beam of light that can destroy anything. Almost like he has a cannon of light in both eyes. He's attuned with everything, which is why he knows where everything is."  
  
"Professor, you're making me blush!" Scott laughed, shaking his head a bit. "I hope you'll want to stay with us, Kurt." He said, tilting his head to one side slightly. "We could use more people here."  
  
Kurt smiled faintly and he waved good-bye as he followed Charles to another room. When he realized his mistake he turned around, only to see Scott waving back at him.  
  
"Please keep up." Charles laughed, looking over his shoulder. Kurt promptly turned around and followed Charles up a flight of stairs to the second floor.  
  
He was led down a short hallway and into the infirmary. It was empty, and Kurt looked at Charles in confusion. Smiling, Charles looked up at the ceiling.  
  
"Hank? We have a new student and I want you to examine him for any permanent damage." He said. Hank came down from the ceiling, surprising Kurt into taking a slight step back. The man looked like a giant blue furred ape, with hands that could easily crush someone's throat. On his nose he wore thin framed spectacles, which he adjusted as he smiled at Kurt.  
  
"Finally! Another blue member to keep me company in this domicile of ours!" he said, putting an arm around Kurt's thin shoulders. "My name is Henry McCoy, but you can just call me Hank." When he finally noticed the wound around Kurt's neck, he frowned and took a slight step back, adjusting his spectacles a bit.  
  
"This is the damage I was talking about, Hank." Charles said. "I thought it would be safer not to have Kurt talk until you give him the ok." Hank nodded and had Kurt sit down on one of the cots, collecting a few of his tools.  
  
"When I'm finished shall I give him a tour of the place?" he asked.  
  
"If you wouldn't mind."  
  
"Oh not at all!" Hank said, applying some medicine to Kurt's wound. "I'm sure we'll become quite the friends in the end!" Charles smiled and left the room and Hank started his examination, asking Kurt to open his mouth as he looked for any internal damage.  
  
"When you swallow, does it hurt?" Hank asked. Kurt nodded faintly, and Hank sighed, adjusting his spectacles slightly. "I'm going to need you to talk to me. Stop when it starts to hurt too much."  
  
"All right." Kurt whispered, his voice hoarse from the hanging and disuse.  
  
"How bad does it hurt when you talk and swallow?" Hank asked.  
  
"Not much."  
  
"Are you sure about this?"  
  
"Yes." Kurt nodded. Hank started writing, making up a medical file for Kurt. He asked for his full name, age, nationality, and for any serious illnesses or injuries he had suffered from in the past. When he finished, he put the file away and he started to give Kurt a tour of the grounds.  
  
While showing him the third floor, they met a young lady in men's clothes that covered every inch of her, including a pair of silken gloves. Her hair was long and auburn colored with one long skunk stripe in the front.  
  
"This is Rogue." Hank said. "Rogue, this is a new student."  
  
"My name is Kurt." He said, bowing slightly. Rogue laughed softly and he looked at her in confusion.  
  
"Ya'll don't need to bow to me, sugah!" Rogue said. "Ah'm not exactly dressed for it!"  
  
"I noticed." Kurt said with a soft laugh. "But my mother always told me to bow to a lady when making a first meeting." Rogue cocked an eyebrow slightly, looking over at Hank.  
  
"Where did the Professor find such a polite boy?" she asked with a laugh. Hank shrugged, laughing softly.  
  
"Rogue, do you know where the others are?" he asked.  
  
"Most of 'em are in the training grounds." She said. "Ah'm going there now."  
  
"Thank you." Hank said. He brought Kurt outside to the floral part of the garden and Kurt was amazed at how many different flowers there were all over the place. He found it odd however that there were small rain clouds over them, moving lazily over all of them in turn.  
  
"What are those?" he asked, pointing at the clouds.  
  
"You've never seen rain clouds before?" Hank laughed.  
  
"I have, but these can't..."  
  
"They are my doing." A woman's voice said. A black woman stepped into view, dressed in a white dress that was loose and showed her legs with no shame at all. Her hair was snow white and pulled back in a high ponytail, matching her completely white and marble-like eyes.  
  
Kurt couldn't help but blush violet at the sight of her exposed legs. Ororo narrowed her eyes slightly, confusing this action of embarrassment with something else.  
  
"Who is this?" she asked, turning to Hank. Kurt's tail curled around his left leg as he bowed to her.  
  
"My name is Kurt." He said. Ororo sniffed softly, turning away to water a few of the flowers.  
  
"I am Ororo." She said finally. "If you are looking for the others, go to the training grounds." She told Hank. With that, she turned her back on them both and continued her work.  
  
"Did I do something wrong?" Kurt asked as he walked down a stone path beside Hank.  
  
"None that I could see." Hank said. "Ororo can sometimes twist things around though."  
  
The training area was a large clearing set up with large obstacles and equipment mostly used to train soldiers. The people there varied in race and nationality as they practiced their fighting skills, going through the obstacles, or simply meditating.  
  
Looking up, Kurt's eyes grew wide as a man with large feathery wings came down for a landing, only to be attacked by a boy made out of ice.  
  
"The one with the wings is Warren Worthington and the one fighting him is Bobby Drake." Hank explained. An older man was wrestling with a younger one. The older man let out a scream that ripped away some of the ground around him and towards the younger man. The other simply dodged the blow by holding out his hands.  
  
"The screamer is Sean Cassidy, and the fighter is John Proudstar." A young man was staring at a tree intently. Narrowing his eyes, he turned into steel and he punched at its trunk, cracking it down easily.  
  
"That is our resident Siberian Piotr Rasputin." Hank observed with a smile. Another man was sitting a bit far off from the others, flipping playing cards from finger to finger swiftly. He suddenly stopped and held one up to his red on black eyes, and it looked like it was starting to fill up with light. He tossed it over his shoulder and it exploded with a soft pop.  
  
"From Louisiana; Remy Lebeau." A woman with hair that matched Scott's walked up to the two of them, looking Kurt over as she placed her hands on her hips slightly.  
  
"You're the one the Professor was looking for." She said. "The Rom from Prussia." Smiling, she matched his bow with her own. "I'm Jean Grey and I hope you like living here."  
  
"I'm sure I will." Kurt said, looking around. He saw a short man standing on a wooden podium, holding out a bowl of water in each hand as he balanced on one foot.  
  
"That's Logan; our resident madman." Jean laughed softly. Kurt walked up quietly, his tail moving lazily as he looked up at Logan.  
  
"Hello." He said. "My name is...ACH!" Logan's concentration was broken and he dropped both bowls, dosing Kurt and banging his head with one of the bowls. Logan growled angrily and he leapt down, forcing Kurt to back up a few steps. Claws of curved bone came out of his knuckles and Kurt found himself inches away from having his wound opened up once more. Logan's blue eyes glittered angrily at him.  
  
"You made me lose my concentration!" he snarled. Everyone was silent as they turned to look at Logan and the newcomer. They were quiet, unsure whether or not they should try and do something to help Kurt. Logan may blow up and end up killing him if any of them tried anything.  
  
"I'm sorry." Kurt said, trying to pull his head back. Logan slashed with his other hand and trapped Kurt between two sets of three flesh shredding claws.  
  
"Sorry isn't good enough." Logan said, narrowing his eyes. Kurt gulped softly, looking over at Hank and the others. When he saw that they couldn't really do anything, he looked back at Logan and he tried to think of something.  
  
In the corner of his eye he saw something glitter, and he soon realized that it was a sword. If he could just get to it...  
  
Kurt tried to think of how he could dodge the claws and reach the sword, and he wished that he could get over there.  
  
Oh God he wished...  
  
With a Bamf Kurt was gone and he reappeared beside the sword, much to everyone's surprise.  
  
Hell, it definitely surprised the Hell out of him!  
  
He looked around in surprise as a purple cloud dissipated, but he soon picked up the sword and used it to deflect a blow made by a charging Logan. The two fought all around the training area, Kurt's sword blocking most of Logan's stabs and thrusts as they searched to draw Kurt's blood.  
  
Kurt dodged and flipped as best as he could, trying to find an opening somewhere to try and trip Logan up without really hurting him. He thought about being behind him, and with another Bamf he was there in a cloud of purple and a whiff of sulfur and brimstone.  
  
Logan whirled right around and nearly took off Kurt's head if he had not ducked just in time. Soon Kurt got better with his teleporting, moving swiftly around Logan as he tried to find an opening. Bone clashed against steel with the same strength and Kurt was soon starting to get tired and weary from the crazy onslaught coming from Logan.  
  
That's when he saw his opening. He lunged forward, his blade pointing at Logan's face as Logan aimed for Kurt's face. The two froze in place, Logan looking at a sword blade and Kurt looking at dangerous claws.  
  
After a tense moment, Logan smiled and retracted his claws, taking a step back.  
  
"You're pretty good." He said. "Quick thinking and quick reaction time. Although you really should have noticed that you messed up my concentration in the beginning. You wouldn't have gotten wet or trapped in- between me claws now would you?" Kurt laughed softly, putting the sword down.  
  
"No, I suppose not." He said. He heard clapping and looking to the side he saw the others laughing and clapping.  
  
"You've discovered your second gift." Charles said with a smile. "Good for you!" Kurt blushed and rubbed the back of his head slightly.  
  
"I'm glad that I found my power too!" he said. "For a moment I thought I was going to die there!"  
  
"Yes, well Logan's style of 'breaking in' a new member can get quite violent at times." Charles admitted looking at the Canadian as he calmly lit a cigarette with a wooden match and took a drag on it. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Logan." He said. Logan shrugged, smiling faintly as he blew out two smoke rings.  
  
"He found out his power didn't he? It was the boost he needed, Chuck!" he said with a wink.  
  
With that, everyone walked up to greet the newest member of their school. They laughed and made introductions, patting Kurt on the back and so on. Everyone was smiling, everyone except one.  
  
Looking over Remy's shoulder, Kurt saw the black woman named Ororo standing near the trees, her arms across her chest and her eyes narrowed in anger as she watched them all. With a huff she turned on her heel and went back to her flowers. 


	3. 3

Kurt had so much fun his first day in his new home. The people there were all very nice to him, and they showed him all over the place, explaining the rules and everything for him. They also demonstrated their powers to him, telling him how each one of them had discovered them and how the Professor had come and taken them here to be safe from those who would do them harm.  
  
Everyone that is, except for Ororo.  
  
This troubled Kurt, and even though he was grateful for the others in talking to him, he still wondered what he had done to upset the woman so much. Or perhaps she just didn't like the way he looked? It certainly wouldn't be the first time that he faced that kind of thing, but something told him that in a place where a man can turn into steel, or have beams come out his eyes, a man who is blue with a tail would not really cause any kind of anger to anyone there.  
  
He decided that he would go and talk to the woman at night, after dinner if possible.  
  
Right now, the man named Piotr had invited him to go to the stables to go and check on the horses, and Kurt could not resist the urge to go and see them.  
  
There were thirteen horses altogether, one for each resident in the school. Twelve of them were resting in the stables, but the thirteenth was running freely through the woods.  
  
"The one that runs wild is Logan's." Piotr explained, rubbing his horse's nose lightly. "He says that he would rather have it running free than in here, but it's safer in the stables don't you think?"  
  
"As long as they are given the proper amount of exercise each day." Kurt nodded, his tail swishing slightly. "Either way, the horses you have are safe here, whether they are running free or in the stables."  
  
"You're a Rom?" Piotr asked.  
  
"Yes." Kurt nodded, understanding where this was going right away and unable to hide his faint smile.  
  
"Then you know a lot about horses?" he asked. Kurt shrugged slightly.  
  
"I learned the trade rather well, yes." He said. "Why?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.  
  
"My horse, he's been limping badly on his right leg for weeks now, and no one can seem to figure out why. Maybe you could try and find out?" Piotr asked. Kurt smiled and he nodded, opening the stable door and walking in slowly, holding out a hand to keep the horse calm.  
  
Bending down on one knee, he placed a hand on the horse's leg and he tilted his head to one side, as he looked it over, feeling it in certain places to see that was the matter. He slowly lifted up the horse's leg and when he looked under it's hooves, he found the problem.  
  
"How long has this horse had hoof rot?" he asked.  
  
"Hoof rot?" Piotr asked, bending down to see. Kurt nodded, pointing out the signs of the disease.  
  
"This horse has had it growing for quite some time. I think that it was small when you first checked, and you never bother to check again, yes?" he asked, looking up at him.  
  
"We thought we ruled that out." Piotr said sadly. Kurt smiled and gently set the horse's leg down, patting Piotr on the shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry, most people miss it the first time around because it starts small and mostly gets on sheep and cattle and rarely horses." He said. "I can help your horse get better." He assured him. Piotr smiled and took his hand in gratitude.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No problem." Kurt said. He suddenly thought of something and he became a bit more serious. "Can I ask you something?" he asked.  
  
"Anything." Piotr said.  
  
"Do you know why Ororo doesn't like me?" Kurt asked. Piotr frowned slightly, slowly shaking his head.  
  
"No, I don't." he said. "Why does she hate you?"  
  
"I don't know!" Kurt cried. "That's what has me so upset about it."  
  
"Well what did you do when you first met her?" Piotr asked. Kurt thought about it and he shrugged faintly.  
  
"I bowed to her." He said. "That's all I did to her and for some reason she has been avoiding me and giving me nasty looks when she does see me!"  
  
"That's strange." Piotr said. "Ororo can be mean sometimes, but she usually has a reason for it you know! Maybe you should talk to her about it." Kurt nodded, laughing softly.  
  
"I plan on doing that after dinner tonight." He said.  
  
"Good luck on finding out what is the matter." Piotr said. Kurt laughed, nodding a bit.  
  
"I have a feeling I'll need that!"  
  
***  
Dinner was nice, everyone at the table breaking bread together and talking pleasantly. Kurt caught a sight of Ororo during dinner, and he could tell that if he said the wrong thing after dinner, she would most likely send a bolt of lightning down to kill him instantly.  
  
That's why he was really nervous when dinner was over. He fought between going to talk to her and simply going back to his room Scott had shown him earlier that day. Finally his courage won and he went to go and talk to her.  
  
He went to her room, but when he found that she wasn't there, he wandered the entire mansion until he realized that she must have been in the garden with her flowers. When he stepped outside, his guess was right, and he found her sitting on an ivy covered brick wall, looking up at the shining stars in the sky.  
  
"Excuse me." He said softly, walking up to her. Her hair slowly rose, crackling with lightning.  
  
"Get away." She said angrily. Kurt almost did just that, but he mentally scolded himself and he slowly climbed up and sat down beside her, avoiding the angry bursts of lightning coming from her.  
  
"I think we need to talk." He said softly.  
  
"Why?" Ororo asked, staring at the stars still.  
  
"Because I don't know why you hate me." Kurt said. "Please, what did I do to upset you so much?" he asked.  
  
"You didn't think I would notice?" Ororo asked.  
  
"Notice what?"  
  
"Your embarrassment." Ororo said, turning to him finally. "I saw the look in your face and I senses the heat in your cheeks! You were embarrassed that you were in a house with an African!"  
  
"What?!" Kurt cried, looking at her in confusion.  
  
"Don't lie!" she said.  
  
"Yes, I was embarrassed, but not over that!" Kurt said. "I was embarrassed at the fact that you showed so much of your legs without thinking about it! I was raised by Rom, and we believe that women are [i]marime[/i] or unclean from the waist down, and that because of this, they must cover their legs in a skirt. It was your dress that surprised me, not your skin color!"  
  
Ororo looked at Kurt seriously, and he looked back at her, wishing that her hair would show some sign of calming down. It finally did and he let out a sigh of relief as her face softened slightly.  
  
She slowly reached out and touched the wound on his neck, noticing it for the first time.  
  
"Is this from a collar?" she asked softly. Kurt shook his head.  
  
"From hanging." He said. He slowly rolled up his sleeves and he showed her his wrists, which were scarred badly. "These are from being chained to a French galley for a year before my brother Stefan broke me out." He said. "My back shows signs of the whip they used."  
  
"I have scars like that as well." Ororo said. "I was taken from my family and home when I was a little girl. Before Charles found me, I was a slave." Kurt nodded in understanding.  
  
"My tribe and I were forced to wander over many lands before we reached Prussia, and yet again my tribe must move away from that country too. We lost a few of our people to hunters and slavers along the way, and we couldn't get all of them back." He said.  
  
"I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I just find it hard to trust people." Ororo said. Kurt smiled, waving it away.  
  
"It's nothing." He said. "I find it hard to trust Gadje sometimes too."  
  
"Gadje?"  
  
"Non-Roma people." He explained. "I think trust is the hardest thing to give people sometimes. We have to try and get back our trust in those who do not share our heritage or race. We might get swallowed up if we don't." Ororo smiled faintly and she nodded a bit.  
  
"I like that." She said. Kurt smiled slightly.  
  
"I was told that by one of my former master's as he put me in his holding pen; he was a priest." He said. Ororo couldn't help but laugh at that, and Kurt joined her.  
  
They sat on the wall for a while, talking and laughing quietly under the stars. 


	4. 4

Kurt was as good as his word and in two weeks, with help from Piotr, Logan, and John; he healed the hoof rot hurting Piotr's horse. He used herbs and cloth and wrapped them around the hoof, keeping it dry and clean. When it cleared up, Piotr said that he had never seen his horse look and act so strong before.  
  
"'Give a Rom a sick horse, get it back tenfold stronger.' " Kurt said, watching the horse prancing around. "That's what Margali always said to me after she healed a horse."  
  
"She was right!" Piotr said. "I don't know how to repay you."  
  
"I do." Kurt said. "The Professor gave me money to buy myself a horse, but I need someone to come with me. Will you come with me?"  
  
"Of course!" Piotr nodded. "Get your things ready and we can go right now."  
  
Kurt went back to his room and he covered all of his exposed fur before he put on his gadje clothes, including a hat that covered his eyes. With his money pouch in hand, he teleported outside where he found Piotr and Remy waiting for him on their horses.  
  
"Hop on." Remy said with a smile. "I needed to go and get some things from the town anyway!" Kurt climbed on behind him and they rode off to town, riding through a worn path through the trees.  
  
When they reached the town, they dismounted and tied their horses up. Remy wandered off from them and he went to the general store with a wave.  
  
Piotr brought Kurt to the stables, where a thin looking man stood in the front. When he saw them coming, he smiled.  
  
"A new student at Xavier's school?" he asked.  
  
"He's come to buy his horse." Piotr said. Kurt walked by the man as he started to give out a spiel about how his were the finest, knowing full well that if one of them was capable of getting the hoof rot, they weren't as good as he said they were.  
  
Passing by the frilly looking horses, he headed for the back of the stables. This was where the workhorses were, along with the horses with defects.  
  
Kurt looked into eyes, examined teeth, and checked hooves and muscles on all of them; remembering all of the things he had learned from his tribe.  
  
While looking around, Kurt felt one of them nudge him in the shoulder. Turning around, he found himself looking at a Holstein. It snorted softly and nudged him again, lightly pulling on his sleeve with its teeth, wanting to get his attention.  
  
The horse raised up its elegant head slowly, turning it each side, as if giving Kurt a better look at it. It was a bay color, with a small white stripe running down the front of its face. It's body was slim and muscular, the fur nicely brushed and tended to. Its mane and tail were both cream colored, and they were braided lightly.  
  
However, the Holstein had a slight defect on it, which explained why it had been put in the back.  
  
It looked as if an animal or perhaps even a knife had attacked its left eye, and it was closed over with a nasty twisting scar.  
  
Kurt tilted his head to one side, looking the Holstein over as it nodded its head to get his attention. When he reached out to touch it, the Holstein leaned forward and pressed its brow into his palm.  
  
Kurt smiled, stroking it gently, and he made his choice then.  
  
"How much for this Holstein?" he asked, turning to the owner as he walked up with a puzzled look on his face.  
  
"You want this one?" the man asked in confusion.  
  
"I asked you the price, yes?" Kurt countered.  
  
"But there are others with both eyes and..."  
  
"Do you wish to sell me the horse or not?" Kurt asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.  
  
"One hundred." The man said finally.  
  
"For a horse with one eye?" Kurt laughed, knowing that Charles had given him two hundred to buy a horse. "You must do better than that!"  
  
"It may only have one eye, but you know the lineage and grace the Holstein has." The man pointed out.  
  
"True, but it still doesn't excuse the fact that the horse was attacked and is now blind in one eye. Even with grace it can't make up for one eye and such a scar on it! I will give you fifty for him."  
  
"Fifty? I paid ninety for him!" the man said.  
  
"Sixty-five then." Kurt said, his eyes lighting up with the spark of the moment.  
  
"I should throw you out of here." The man said. "Student of Xavier's or not!"  
  
"I'll not give you a penny more for this horse." Kurt said simply. "The horse is defective, and you want a hundred for him! You should be whipped for trying to cheat me!"  
  
"At least make it seventy." The man said.  
  
"Sixty-five." Kurt insisted. "Try to raise it again and I walk."  
  
"I'll not go below seventy!"  
  
"And I'll not move from sixty-five! The horse is worth that and that alone!" Kurt said, wishing that Stefan were here to help him seal the deal.  
  
"You're trying to rob me." The man said. Kurt shrugged, making as if he was leaving the stables.  
  
"Your loss then." He said simply.  
  
"Fine!" the man said, not wanting to miss out on making any kind of sale. Smiling, Kurt gave the man the money.  
  
"I knew you would see it my way." He said, opening the stable and taking the horse out.  
  
"I also have bridles and saddles for sale." The man said. Kurt smiled and shook his head, undoing the braids in the horse's mane and tail.  
  
"I won't be needing them." He said, leading his horse out of the stables.  
  
When Piotr saw what kind of horse Kurt had bought, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly.  
  
"You chose a horse with one eye?" he asked. Kurt smiled, running a hand down its neck. The horse snorted and licked him lightly, making him laugh as he gently pushed its head away.  
  
"This horse wanted me to choose him." He said. "I could just tell, Piotr."  
  
"But its wound..."  
  
"Is only bad because it has scabbed over badly." Kurt explained. "I can make it so that it is not so big and ugly looking. When I am done with him, he will be the finest one in our stables, despite his missing eye!" Piotr laughed, helping Kurt tie his horse up with the others.  
  
"With the way you handled the hoof rot, I don't doubt that in the slightest!" he said. "How much did you pay for him?" he asked.  
  
"Sixty-five." Kurt said with a smile. "He kept trying to make it more, but I made as if I was going to leave and he immediately saw it my way!"  
  
"You are one shrewd man Kurt Wagner." Piotr pointed out. Kurt smiled and bowed down, laughing as he rose back up.  
  
"Thank you for noticing!" he said, stepping into the general store. They wandered down the shelves, finding Remy at the candy part of the store, buying a bagful of peppermint sticks and peppermint suckers.  
  
"Are you buying those for yourself?" Piotr asked with a laugh. Remy looked over at them and his cheeks burned a faint red color as he paid the three pennies for them.  
  
"Rogue said that she had a craving for some sweets." He explained weakly. Kurt laughed softly and he walked up to the counter.  
  
"There is no shame in admitting that you are buying candy for yourself, Remy!" he said. Turning to the cashier, he bought a bag of red licorice and some peanut brittle. "I haven't had sweets in years!" he said, popping a piece of the brittle into his mouth.  
  
"But Rogue really did ask me to buy her some!" Remy insisted as they left the store. Kurt and Piotr looked at each other playfully, toying with Remy as they rolled their eyes.  
  
"Sure, Remy." Kurt said. "Would you mind explaining why you're sucking on one of the sticks if they're Rogue's?" he asked. Remy frowned and they laughed as they headed back to the school. 


	5. 5

Despite nearly dying at his claws, Kurt became good friends with Logan at the school. The man was in tune with nature, and they were often able to talk about things and fully understand what the other was talking about.  
  
Yes, the others tried to understand, and maybe they understood some of the things Kurt was talking about, but Logan was the only one who knew what he was talking about the entire time.  
  
Ororo was like that too, but Kurt didn't like Logan the way he liked Ororo, and she liked him the same way too.  
  
Logan helped Kurt tend to his horse's eye, collecting the herbs that he needed to put on the bandage that he placed over the wound after taking away the scab gently. Kurt named his horse Koro Grast; which in the Rom tongue meant "Blind Horse". Koro Grast proved to be a gentle natured horse, stretching out his head to anyone who came by to get a good petting on the neck and head.  
  
When it was time to remove the bandage, Logan used one of his claws to remove it without any pain or problems for Koro Grast. The wound had healed better than the first time; with a thin scar keeping the eye closed this time.  
  
The real bonding came when Kurt went for a midnight walk after having another talk with Ororo. He went over to the training area, and he found Logan doing the strangest things. They were wooden boards and stones set up in rows, and he was punching and kicking them, breaking and cracking each board and stone with ease.  
  
"Is that another one of your powers?" he asked, walking up to him slowly. Logan slammed his fist into another board, smashing it to pieces before he turned back to Kurt.  
  
"No, it's something I learned from a Samurai." He said.  
  
"Samurai?" Kurt asked.  
  
"There's this island over on the other side of the world." Logan explained. "A place called Japan. Their warriors are called Samurai. Sometimes, they use something they call the martial arts."  
  
"And this involves punching wooden boards?" Kurt asked, cocking an eyebrow slightly. Logan couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head a bit at him.  
  
"It's about mind over matter, and focusing your energy and your mind to one thing. Try to punch that board like I did and you'll see that it's not so easy without the training and discipline."  
  
Nodding, Kurt walked up to one of the boards, and he slowly made a fist and he tried to punch it just as Logan had done. He didn't even dent it, and he cried out and hugged his hand as it throbbed in pain. He glared at Logan as he laughed at him, shaking his head a bit.  
  
"Not so easy right?" Logan asked.  
  
"No, it isn't." Kurt admitted, looking at his slightly bleeding knuckles. "How do you do it without feeling any pain?"  
  
"I told you." Logan said. "It's mind over matter most of the time. I'll make a deal with you; I'll teach you martial arts and the Bushido code, if you teach me your Rom tongue." Kurt thought about it for a moment, looking down at the board. Smiling faintly, he nodded, holding out his tail to shake on it.  
  
"You've got yourself a deal!"  
  
***  
"Logan wants to kill me!"  
  
Ororo laughed softly, shaking her head as she gazed down at the bare chested and exhausted Kurt that was lying amongst her flowers. She and everyone else had heard about the deal he and Logan had made, and they all had told Kurt that he had been mad to make such a deal with Logan.  
  
"What did he make you do today?" she asked, sitting down beside him. Kurt struggled to sit, wiping the sweat off of his brow with the back of his hand. She made a small rain cloud over him to kill him off, and he gave her a smile of gratitude.  
  
"He made me stand on one of those podiums for five hours in the blazing heat!" he said. "I had to hold out two buckets filled to the top with water on either side and if I spilled a little bit, he added on another hour to it!" Ororo laughed, shaking her head slightly.  
  
"Is that why you weren't in for lunch or dinner today?" she asked. Kurt groaned softly as he nodded.  
  
"I lost my balance and dropped both of the buckets!" he said. "I've only finished it now and I'm starving!" he said, his stomach starting to voice its agreement on that one. Ororo smiled and ran her fingers through his hair.  
  
"You shouldn't have made that deal with him." She said. "Hr's going to run you ragged now!" she said. Kurt sighed, shrugging as he followed her into the house.  
  
"I made a deal with him." He said. "I can't just back out of it now you know."  
  
"I know." She nodded, going through the pantry. She tossed Kurt an apple, and he immediately bit into it, his fangs digging in deeply. She laughed, shaking her head a bit. "You'll choke if you eat too fast, Kurt!" she said.  
  
"I'm starving!" Kurt said. "I think I was better off in the galleys than with that slave driver!" he said. Ororo looked over his shoulder and she pointed, unable to hold back a faint smile. When Kurt looked, he found Logan standing in the doorway, smiling evilly at him.  
  
"You think today was bad?" Logan asked. "Just you wait until tomorrow!" Kurt gulped and he whimpered softly, hugging his tail slightly as he looked at Ororo.  
  
"I tried to tell you." She said as Logan left. Kurt sighed and rested his head on her shoulder for some support.  
  
"Hold me." He said softly. Ororo smiled and hugged him gently, stroking his head lightly.  
  
"I'm sure you'll survive his training." She said. "And if you don't, I'll make sure you get a nice burial!" Kurt snorted softly.  
  
"Thanks." He said. 


	6. 6

Author's Note: I kind of play around with actual historical facts in this one. It was actually in 1561 in England that had the law that any Rom found were to be branded with a "V" on their chest and be a slave for two years. If they escaped and were then recaptured; they received an "S" and were the slave to whoever captured them for life.  
  
The part about Moravia however is the truth, sadly enough.  
  
Does anyone else see a pattern here with our history as a species?  
  
*** This was it.  
  
After three years of enduring Logan and his madness, Kurt only had to complete one final test and he would officially pass Logan's martial arts training.  
  
All he had to do was beat Logan in a kind of hide-and-seek game in the forest.  
  
Beat Logan in a hide-and-seek game while blindfolded.  
  
He stood in the middle of what he hoped was a small clearing, trying to keep his mind blank and focused like Logan had taught him as he tightened his grip on the katana Logan had given him when he finished his sword training.  
  
The wind slowly blew on his back, and he stiffened, turning his head side to side as he tried to figure everything out. He was thinking too much, and he couldn't hear anything except for his heart pounding in his ears.  
  
This wasn't going to work; Kurt could tell right away. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, trying to feel the elements as Logan had told him to do. The sound of his heart pounding in his ears soon died down, and Kurt soon got a mental picture of what was around him.  
  
His feet flexed and unflexed, telling him that he was on grass that was still wet from the drizzle they had had in the morning. He slowly tilted his head to one side; he heard branches from trees banging lightly against each other, telling him which way the wind was blowing.  
  
The thing he noticed was that all around him the branches in the trees were swaying and making some sort of sound. All of them that is, except for one on his left.  
  
Slowly, Kurt turned his katana around in a full circle before he started to move forward and slightly to the left, trying not to let on that he knew. He made his tail slowly sway towards the left, feeling out how far away the trees were. After he had made his guess, he teleported and hoped to God that he didn't end up impaled in a tree.  
  
Luckily, Kurt didn't end up impaled on any branches, and he was rewarded with a Snikt sound as Logan leapt back and got ready to fight him.  
  
"I thought you said I only had to find you!" Kurt said, bracing himself for a fight.  
  
"Never make assumptions, Elf!" Logan said, charging at him suddenly. Kurt held his katana to the side and he deflected the claws that came at him. He moved all around, using his tail to tell him where things were as he deflected Logan's blows, listening to the whistling noise they made when they cut through the air in a slashed motion.  
  
He kept it up until he felt that his hands and arms would get too numb to hold the katana anymore. Narrowing his eyes behind his blindfold, Kurt teleported behind Logan and he stabbed as hard as he could, thinking that Logan would deflect the blow.  
  
Instead, he felt it stab into something soft, and Logan growl softly in pain.  
  
Gasping, he let go and he took off his blindfold, finding that he had stabbed Logan in the side pretty deeply. Clapping a hand over his mouth, his eyes grew wide as he tried to think of what to say as Logan pulled the katana out of his side.  
  
"Logan..." he started.  
  
"Nice move, Elf." Logan said with a smile. "The use of the tail helped you get better connected with everything in your surroundings."  
  
"But your wound..."  
  
"Is nothing." Logan said, waving his hand dismissively at him. Slowly, the wound started to close up and it was as if nothing had happened. Smiling at Kurt's surprise, Logan flipped the katana around and gave it to him handle first.  
  
"You won." He said. "Congratulations, Elf!" Kurt smiled faintly, sheathing his katana as he followed Logan back to the mansion.  
  
"I can't believe I did that!" he said. "I was so scared at first!"  
  
"I know." Logan nodded. "I could smell the fear on you." Kurt blushed faintly, looking down at the ground.  
  
"You could have at least lied about knowing." He said. Logan snorted softly.  
  
"Ya beat me, what else do you want from me, Elf?" he asked. Kurt shrugged helplessly, placing a playful arm around Logan's shoulders.  
  
"How about a kiss?" he asked. Logan calmly shoved him away by pressing his hand on Kurt's face as they entered the house.  
  
"In your dreams maybe." He said.  
  
"Kurt." Looking up, Kurt cocked an eyebrow slightly at Scott.  
  
"Were you waiting for me?" he asked. Scott nodded, uncrossing his arms slightly.  
  
"The Professor wants to see you. He says that some people came to see you." He said. Looking over at Logan with raised eyebrows, Kurt shrugged and he climbed the stairs and entered Charles' study, finding the man sitting down and leafing through a manuscript.  
  
Looking up, Charles smiled and he stood up, taking Kurt lightly by the arm and leading him over to the front of the school, keeping his back to the door.  
  
"Scott said that some people were here for me." Kurt said. Charles nodded a bit, smiling faintly at him.  
  
"Yes, that's correct."  
  
"Who is it?" Kurt asked, looking at Charles anxiously.  
  
"Now calm down, Kurt." Charles said seriously. "You need to be under control when you see them and..."  
  
"Is it my tribe? Have they come for me?" Kurt asked excitedly. Charles sighed softly, looking down slightly.  
  
"Yes and no, Kurt." He said. Kurt frowned slightly, tilting his head to one side.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
"They'll be able to tell you better than I can." Charles said.  
  
"Who are they though?" Kurt insisted.  
  
"Stop asking so many questions!" someone laughed from behind. "That's what always annoyed mother you know!" Looking over his shoulder, Kurt's eyes grew wide at the sight of his brother Stefan waiting just outside the door for him. Stefan was nearly knocked down to the ground as his little brother leapt up and hugged him tightly around the neck. Laughing, he patted him lightly on the back.  
  
"*Devlesa avilan!*" he cried happily. Stefan smiled faintly at him.  
  
"*Devlesa araklam tume.*" he said, before he realized that Kurt was hugging a bit too tightly around his neck. "I'm happy to see you too!" he said. "But I would like to breathe too." Laughing, Kurt let go and he looked around, tears of happiness falling down his cheeks.  
  
"Where are the others?" he asked. "Tell me!" he said desperately. Stefan laughed, shaking his head a bit.  
  
"You don't need to cry about this, Kurt." He said. "Everything is all right now!"  
  
"But where are the others?" Kurt asked, looking at him anxiously. "Where are mother, Jimaine, Gummi, Haus, and the others?" Stefan's face became sad for a moment, but then he smiled faintly and tilted his head to one side.  
  
"Turn around." He said simply. Confused, Kurt did so, and his mouth opened slightly in awe.  
  
Jimaine was standing in the doorway beside Charles, her hands clasped in front of her slightly. A large headscarf was placed over her head, covering most of it except for her face, which sparkled with the light of her smile as she waved lightly at Kurt.  
  
Something was off however, but Kurt couldn't put his finger on it. He shrugged it off and he ran up to hug her, but she stepped back slightly, taking his hands in her own instead.  
  
"I'm so glad to see you again, brother." Jimaine said. Kurt smiled and tried to kiss her on the cheek, but she moved her head away, making him look at her in confusion.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked, looking from Jimaine to Stefan. Stefan looked over at Jimaine, and he sighed softly, turning back to Kurt.  
  
"We're the only ones left, Kurt." He said softly. Kurt looked at him in horror, slowly shaking his head as he turned to Jimaine.  
  
"He's lying." He said. "Tell me he's lying!" He tried to touch her face, and she looked away, her eyes watery and sparkling with her tears.  
  
"Jimaine?"  
  
"Show him what happened, Jimaine." Stefan said softly. "It's the only way that he'll understand." Nodding sadly, Jimaine undid the knot under her chin and she let the headscarf fall to the ground.  
  
Kurt and everyone who was in the room at the time stared at her helplessly, looking at her shaven head and missing left ear. It looked like someone had taken a knife and attacked it crazily, hacking it away to nothing but a hole in the side of her head. All that was left of her hair was enough to make a ponytail, and it was the headscarf that kept it in place and made it look as if she still had her hair.  
  
"We tried to go to Moravia." Stefan explained softly, showing Kurt the "V" that was branded on his chest. "We were captured on the border however, and we tried to escape, but their laws were to kill whoever resisted, and almost everyone was killed right away in that.  
  
"When it was over, only Jimaine, Gummi, and I were left alive. They shaved Jimaine and Gummi bald, and Gummi died when they started to cut off her ear. They branded us with these V's on our chests, marking us for slavery for two years.  
  
"We broke out after a year and a half, and we've been looking for you ever since."  
  
Tears flowed freely down Kurt's cheeks and he turned to Jimaine, lightly running a finger down the hole on the side of her head. She looked down, ashamed at her scarred looks.  
  
Kurt slowly hugged her, burying his face in her neck, feeling completely helpless.  
  
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm so sorry."  
  
***  
  
Romani Translation:  
  
Devlesa avilan: It is God who brought you  
  
Devlesa araklam tume: It is with God that we found you 


	7. 7

"There's a room upstairs where you can have some privacy if you wish." Charles said softly, his eyes filled with sorrow. Kurt slowly pulled back and he nodded faintly, unable to speak due to the sobs trying to come up and strangle him. Bending down slowly, he picked up the ponytail and headscarf, looking at Jimaine and Stefan sadly as he led them up the stairs into an empty room.  
  
He shut and locked the door, indicating to them the bed and chair for them to sit on. They were all quiet as he sat down beside Jimaine, gently putting her headscarf and ponytail onto her as they had been before.  
  
"I'm sorry." He whispered again, looking away. Stefan and Jimaine looked at each other in confusion.  
  
"Sorry for what?" Stefan asked, cocking an eyebrow.  
  
"Maybe if I had tried to stay in Prussia, or ask the Professor to find and bring you here..." Shaking her head, Jimaine cupped his chin in her hand, and she made him look at her.  
  
"You didn't do any thing wrong, Kurt." She said, smiling weakly. "I might have forgotten it too if I was in such a big place like this!" she said with a laugh.  
  
"But I didn't forget." Kurt said. "I still thought about you everyday."  
  
"Stop kicking yourself." Stefan said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "It's not like you were in league with the Gadje who did this to us." He said with a laugh. "Now come on, this visit was supposed to be a happy one, and here we are sobbing in a room like old women at a funeral!"  
  
Kurt laughed weakly, shaking his head faintly.  
  
"I'm sorry." He said, wiping his eyes slowly with his tail. When he saw the look Stefan and Jimaine gave him, he laughed and held up his hands in defense. "I meant about the sobbing!" he said.  
  
"Are you hungry?" he asked, tilting his head to one side. "It's about time for lunch and I can show you around afterwards!" he offered.  
  
"Thinking with your stomach; brilliant Kurt!" Stefan said, putting an arm around his shoulders. Kurt poked him in the side with the tip of his tail.  
  
"If I remember correctly, someone in this room ate in vast quantities for EVERY meal." He said. Stefan calmly looked over at Jimaine, raising his eyebrows slightly.  
  
"I think our brother is trying to tell you something, Jimaine." He said. They all laughed at that, and Kurt couldn't help but shake his head a bit at his brother.  
  
"You are impossible!" he said. "Come on, I think I smell food coming out of the oven!"  
  
When they reached the kitchen, Jean was taking out a stack of her hotcakes. The kitchen became quiet, and everyone looked over at the three warily. There was a moment of odd silence until Stefan snorted softly, shaking his head.  
  
"We came here to cheer our brother up and here is everyone with such long faces!" he said, turning to Jimaine. "I think we should leave, don't you agree?" he asked. Jimaine put on a serious face, acting as if she was thinking for a moment.  
  
"I would have to agree." She said finally. "We should go before they start crying on us!" They turned to go and Kurt held them back, laughing.  
  
"Give them a chance." He said. "Especially Bobby! He must be bursting with hole-in-the-head jokes!" This caused Bobby to burst into laughter.  
  
"It's true!" he said. "Oh my God it's true." This broke the ice and everyone opened up more, acting as they would usually during lunchtime.  
  
Ororo rested an arm around Kurt's shoulders, smiling at Jimaine.  
  
"You are his sister?" she asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"He talked a lot about you and your brother." Ororo said with a smile. Jimaine looked from Ororo to Kurt, slowly starting to understand.  
  
"You had better keep my brother happy." She said. "Or I'll put a curse on you!" Kurt started to blush and Ororo laughed, nodding a bit.  
  
"Don't worry, I will." She promised. She looked over at Kurt and she played with a lock of his hair. "As long as he keeps me happy too!"  
  
"Oh you don't have to worry about that." Stefan said. "Didn't Kurt tell you about all of the girls he had in the past?"  
  
"Stefan..."  
  
"I'm surprised that he doesn't have five kids by now!" Kurt frowned, narrowing his eyes slightly. Ororo laughed, shaking her head slightly.  
  
"You know what happens now?" he asked.  
  
"No, what?" Stefan asked. In answer, Kurt pounced on him and startled to tickle him mercilessly.  
  
"Kurt's never been this animate before!" Jean said. "It's like your coming here brought something out in him. I hope you both will stay with us."  
  
"If it's not too much trouble." Jimaine said, holding onto her glass so that it wouldn't fall over as Stefan and Kurt banged into the table, still tickle fighting each other.  
  
"Of course not!" Jean said. "We've got plenty of room." She suddenly flinched, narrowing her glowing eyes slightly.  
  
"What's the matter?" Jimaine asked. Jean got to her feet swiftly.  
  
"Men are coming." She said. "Three soldiers who think they saw you come here."  
  
"Code yellow!" Scott said, leaving the kitchen swiftly. "Kurt, Hank, Warren, Ororo, and Kurt's brother and sister! Head on up to the attic and don't leave until we give the signal. Remy you're blind so tie on a piece of cloth to cover those eyes of yours and John; you're just a servant for us again. Come on!"  
  
Kurt and the others went up to the final floor, and Hank pulled on a cord that opened up a flight of steps to the attic. The attic was cool but dark with a few old statues and furniture all around it. Bending down, Warren removed four small boards that revealed a good view of the main room as Ororo brought up the steps.  
  
They waited there for a while, Kurt telling in a whisper how Jean knew who was coming and what they were thinking.  
  
"Shhh." Warren whispered, his feathers ruffling in agitation as he watched Charles walk up to the front door. Everyone fell silent and they crowded around the hole to watch and listen.  
  
When Charles opened the door, he found himself looking at three soldiers. Their leader looked like a strong man with long golden hair and blue eyes that would make the sky envious.  
  
"Can I help you gentlemen?" he asked.  
  
"My name is Brian Braddock; general of His Majesties clean up squadron." The leader said. "We spotted two Gypsies heading this way and we order you to let us search your house for them." Charles cocked an eyebrow, stepping aside calmly.  
  
"How can I refuse such a polite request?" he asked as the soldiers started their search. They were quite rude, brushing by people as they entered their rooms and dug around. Brian nearly received a charged card in his boot, but Rogue stopped Remy from doing that right away.  
  
Charles did not enter their minds, but Jean didn't want to take any chances and she dove into Brian's mind right away.  
  
What she saw was a young woman, hiding in a room she shared with her brother. A purple and pink light surrounded her eyes, taking the form of a butterfly.  
  
Her name was Betsy Braddock, sister to Brian Braddock. 


	8. 8

Author's Note: In one point in this chapter, it is mentioned that Holland once gave shelter to Rom before taking it back and kicking them all out; this is all true, except that the year may be different.  
  
The same goes to the trial in the American Colonies were a group of Rom were arrested and accused of being cannibals. They were found innocent however of the charges and I think they were just exiled for being Romani. *Waves finger in the air* Whoo hoo for mankind's understanding nature.  
  
***  
  
Jean's surprising discovery of Brian's sister was interrupted by a mental warning sent by Charles.  
  
Brian had been poking the walls with the tip of his sword, looking for secret passages and such. He had poked the ceiling on the last floor and he had heard the sound made by the attic's door.  
  
"You savage!" he said, turning to John. "Lower those steps now!" John's left eye twitched in anger but he kept his silence, waiting for Charles and the others to come and do something.  
  
"You don't really expect anyone to be up there do you?" Jean asked, swiftly walking up to him. "We have so much stuff up there that it's impossible for us to hide anyone there!" Brian looked at her and narrowed his eyes slightly.  
  
"I was not talking to you, woman! Stay in your place and stand down. I'll see this for myself thank you!" He said. "What are you waiting for, savage? Open it!" John looked over at Jean and she shrugged helplessly. Slowly, he reached up and he pulled down on the cord, bringing down the steps.  
  
***  
When Warren saw Brian walking away from view, he instantly started to form a plan, figuring that this guy wasn't an idiot like the others.  
  
"We need to hide!" he whispered to the others.  
  
"We don't have anywhere to hide!" Ororo hissed back. "There's nothing here!" Looking around Hank noticed a few toppled over statues whose bases were still in good condition. He smiled faintly and he turned to the others.  
  
"I think I might have an idea!" he said. "We need to hurry though!"  
  
That's why when Brian and his men came in followed by Jean and Logan; they found nothing but statues up there; some of them apparently made of wax and real clothes. One of them was of two people, a man and a woman dancing the flamenco. Another was of an angel with his wings spread out wide holding a spear against the throat of his fallen enemy, a blue shirtless demon whose fangs were bared in a feral hiss or snarl. The last wax statue was of a blue ape, holding a Negro woman over his shoulder, one fist against his chest as if letting out a victory howl.  
  
Logan had to restrain himself from bursting into laughter.  
  
"What are these things?" Brian asked, tilting his head as he looked at Hank and Ororo.  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Logan asked. "They're wax statues our teacher sometimes likes to collect."  
  
"Who would make a statue of a Negro woman?" he asked. Her face hidden, Ororo narrowed her eyes as they sparkled with lightning, ready to strike the bastard down at that very second.  
  
"I think you've seen that there is nothing here." Jean said, sensing the danger at once. "Now I want you and your men to leave our home now!" When Brian had gone down the stairs, everyone let out a sigh of relief, getting out of their poses.  
  
"I think you got me in the neck with that thing!" Kurt said, rubbing his neck lightly. Warren shrugged and put the spear down.  
  
"Sorry about that." He said.  
  
"I'm going to fry him." Ororo snarled softly.  
  
"Don't, Ororo." Jean said. "Please?"  
  
"Why not? I don't think anyone would really miss him do you?" she countered.  
  
"I think that just might be the case." Jean said. "I'll explain it in the den with everyone."  
  
***  
"So you're saying that Brian has a sister that is also gifted like us?" Hank asked, looking at her over the rim of his spectacles.  
  
"I saw it Hank." Jean nodded. "I think she might have the same powers as me and Charles. Her eyes were surrounded by lights in the shape of a large butterfly."  
  
"Where is she, Jean?" Charles asked.  
  
"She shares a house with her brother." Jean said softly, slowly concentrating to see where exactly. "In the slums of London. She's not happy there, because her brother has to keep her hidden from the people who would want to harm her."  
  
"What do you suggest we do, go there and get her?" Ororo asked. "We can't risk messing with someone whose brother is a soldier. He could find out about us through her."  
  
"Would you prefer that we let her stay in there in misery?" Jean asked, cocking an eyebrow slightly. Ororo sighed, looking down.  
  
"I suppose not." She admitted. "But who do you want to send on this mission?" she asked.  
  
"I think that Kurt, Jean, and Rogue need to go on this mission." Charles said. "The fewer people the better, and we need to move fast too. No wasting time there. It shouldn't take more than five days ride to get there, maybe less if your horses run at long intervals before going to walks. In two weeks at most you should be back with her. You should get ready to leave by tomorrow morning."  
  
"Are you sure about moving this fast?" Remy asked.  
  
"We don't have time." Charles said. "Not if we want to beat Brian and his men to her."  
  
***  
That night, Kurt sat with Stefan and Jimaine out in the garden, talking quietly about the old days when the tribe had once had shelter in Holland before it threw out all of the Rom living there.  
  
"When I come back from my mission, will you two still be here?" Kurt asked hopefully, raising his eyebrows slightly.  
  
"No." Stefan said with a straight face. "With soldiers out looking for us, we're just going to go and wander all around England for a while until we can reach America where we'll most likely be put in jail and accused of being cannibals."  
  
"I'm being serious." Kurt said.  
  
"Well where else can we go?" Stefan laughed softly. "We'll be here when you come back, don't you worry about that. We're worried about you though, going out to London in these times."  
  
"I'll have a disguise on the whole time." Kurt assured him. "Nothing will go wrong for us."  
  
"If you say so..."  
  
"I do." Kurt said with a smile. Standing up, he patted away the dust on his pants and he helped Jimaine up.  
  
"Now come on." He said. "It's getting late and I'm sure you both are tired from all of the excitement today!"  
  
***  
The next morning, Kurt, Jean, and Rogue were getting their final things ready for leaving.  
  
"And you had better be safe." Jimaine said, poking him on the nose with the tip of her finger. "We don't need to hear that you and your friends had some troubles in London and have to come and rescue you...again!" Kurt groaned, shaking his head.  
  
"I was only captured four times." He said. "You were captured six, seven if I want to count Moravia!" he told her. Laughing, Jimaine hugged him gently, kissing him on the cheek.  
  
"Good luck." Stefan said, clasping his hand. Kurt winked, waving it off.  
  
"That's the only kind of luck I've been getting lately!" he said.  
  
Ororo didn't need to waste time with words or phrases with him. She simply grabbed him and kissed him on the lips for so long that Charles had to clear his throat to finally make her end it. Smiling, she winked at the dizzy Kurt.  
  
"Swift journey." She said. Nodding faintly, Kurt mounted Koro Grast and he, Rogue, and Jean rode off for London and Betsy Braddock. 


	9. 9

When they reached London, Jean had them put their horses in a stable and paid for a few days for the horses to be in there while they looked for Betsy Braddock.  
  
"How do you want to do this?" she asked, looking at Rogue and Kurt.  
  
"You're the one wi' the mind powers!" Rogue said. "Just look for her wi' yer mind!"  
  
"If we were going to be so simple about it, I could have gone alone." Jean pointed out.  
  
"Both of you know it off." Kurt said calmly. "Jean, go and look for her with your mind. It's the fastest way we'll be able to find her now just do it!" Sighing, Jean closed her eyes and she reached out, blocking out everyone else's thoughts except for Betsy's.  
  
She was sitting in the room alone, wondering when her brother would come back from his mission. She was lonely and scared when her brother wasn't there with her. She really wanted him to be there, and she felt like she was going to scream because of the voices coming into her mind all of the time.  
  
"She's scared." Jean said. "She can hear everyone's thoughts and she thinks that it means she's going insane."  
  
"Do you have a place yet?" Rogue asked.  
  
"A tavern." She said slowly. "With the head of a bloody pig as a sign."  
  
"Lovely." Kurt said. Jean nodded a bit, sighing softly as she slowly concentrated more on Betsy's location.  
  
"It's called the Filthy Swine." She said finally. "We need to break up and find the Filthy Swine. When one of us does, we should go up to her room and send out a mental signal to the others and give directions. If I'm not the one to find her, I'll be the one translating to the other.  
  
"Are we all ready for this? Good, let's go."  
  
They split up; Kurt taking the slums, Rogue the marketplace, and Jean taking the nicer part of London.  
  
*** Author's Note: The next two chapters will be the experiences met by the two who do not find Betsy. The third and continuation of the story afterwards is of the one who obviously finds her. 


	10. 10

Rogue found herself surrounded by people buying and selling goods, along with a mix of those begging for spare coins for bread. Her heart ached for these people, and in the end she gave away all of her money to them, hoping that someone did not come and steal it from them.  
  
She thought of asking people where the Filthy Swine was, but she thought better of it, noticing the looks she was getting all ready from her garb in men's clothes.  
  
Calmly, she took off one of her gloves and she lightly touched a burly looking man who seemed to be the kind of person who went to taverns often.  
  
What she found made her want to throw up, and she staggered away before anyone noticed to an alley so that she could throw up in some sort of peace.  
  
The man's name was Victor Creed, and he was killing people over in the rich district daily.  
  
When she had finally stopped throwing up, she wiped her mouth and she went out only to find that the man she had touched was gone.  
  
Sighing, she placed the glove back on her hand and she went on, figuring that that was a stupid plan in the first place, so she might as well ask people where the Filthy Swine was.  
  
She went up to a vendor selling jewelry, going to the side to avoid blocking anyone's way.  
  
"Excuse me." She asked. "Ah was wonderin' if ya'll could..."  
  
"Can' ya see I'm busy here?" the vendor demanded. "Go bother someone else ye bloody nuisance!" Taking the hint, Rogue went to find someone else. On one of the less crowded streets she found a young woman selling matches.  
  
"Excuse me..."  
  
"Why are you dressed like a man?" the woman asked, tilting her head to one side slightly. Rogue sighed, waving it off slightly.  
  
"It's how Ah am." She said.  
  
"You could get put in jail for that you know." She said.  
  
"Yes, Ah know now please..."  
  
"Why would you risk going to jail over that?" the woman asked. "Are you some kind of rebel or something?"  
  
"Ah'm just lookin' fer the Filthy Swine."  
  
"Who are you looking for that's a Filthy Swine?"  
  
"No, the tavern."  
  
"The tavern that the person you're calling a filthy swine is in?" Rogue really wanted to bang her head on the floor or something at this point.  
  
"No, Ah'm talkin' about the tavern that is CALLED the Filthy Swine, honey." She said. "Do ya know where it is?"  
  
"Oh, you're one of THOSE people." The woman said, shifting away from her slightly. "You're really lost if you're looking for that tavern in the marketplace you know. It's over in the part of town where I live, but in the worst part of it!"  
  
"An' where do ya live?" Rogue asked, wondering why the Hell she was cursed to ask THIS person for the answer.  
  
"The rich folks call it the slums, but it's not all filthy you know." The woman said. "At least we have self respect you know! Care to buy some matches, love?"  
  
Rogue walked away before she was forced to jam some of those matches in her eyes to forget the pain she was feeling from listening to this woman talking to her. 


	11. 11

Jean felt right as she entered the nicer and richer part of London. Her parents had both been quite wealthy, and she had led a rich and fancy life until her powers came to her and they gave her to Charles to be taken care of afterwards. Despite her less than regal attire, the way she carried herself told the people outside that she was used to it, and she was not harassed out of there as anyone else would have been.  
  
She found a few taverns there, but none of them were the Filthy Swine, and one of the owners told her that the Filthy Swine was over where the thieves, whores, and beggars lived, AKA the slums of London.  
  
After finding this out, she went to go back when a couple entering their home caught her eye, and she stopped and stared in wonder as the door closed behind her parents.  
  
Jean stood in the middle of the street, carriages rumbling on either side of her as she stared up at her house for a long time until she finally walked up and stood at the last step, wondering if she should go and knock on it or not. Her parents hadn't exactly been quite kind to her when she last saw them, but that didn't wipe away the fact that they were indeed her blood parents, who had loved her up until the moment her powers came into being.  
  
She finally threw caution to the winds and walked up the steps, knocking lightly on the door and thinking of what she was going to say to her parents when she saw them again.  
  
The door was opened by one of their servants, who looked down his nose at Jean as if she was a speck of dust, ignoring the fact that he himself was nothing but a lowly servant in the household.  
  
"Tell Mr. and Mrs. Grey that their daughter Jean is here to see them." She said. "I shall be here waiting for them and if you do not do as I say, William, I will use my powers on you to MAKE you do as I have so politely asked you to do instead." William stiffened slightly, recognizing the daughter of the mistress whom he himself used to play with when he was a boy.  
  
"Jean? Is that really you?" he asked, throwing away his arrogant act at once. Jean smiled warmly at him, tilting her head to one side.  
  
"Who else could it be?" she asked simply. Laughing softly, William backed up and let her into the waiting room.  
  
"I'll try to make them see you." He promised before going into the living room. Jean was instantly hit by nothing but negative thoughts, and she was forced to close her eyes tightly as she raised her power to try and tune it out.  
  
She nearly left the house when William came in and gave her the go ahead to go inside. Jean entered slowly, keeping her mental shields up and on high at all times.  
  
If looks could kill...  
  
Jean stood near the doorway, thinking that this was a complete waste of time. Her parents were looking at her with such contempt that someone looking in on the scene would think that she was a stranger and not their daughter.  
  
The Grey's only wished that that were true.  
  
"What business do you have with us?" her mother asked. "We're far too busy to deal with the likes of you all day!"  
  
"I came here on a whim." Jean admitted. "To see you again and find out if you had changed. I see now that you have not."  
  
"Is that all?" her father asked, cocking an eyebrow. Jean crossed her arms over her chest, restraining herself from using her powers on her own parents to make them understand who and what she was.  
  
"Why can't you treat me like a daughter and not a stranger?" she asked. "What did I ever do to you?" Her mother stood up and faced her, looking very unladylike as she glared at her own flesh and blood.  
  
"You're a freak!" she cried. "You couldn't be born like a normal lady, no. You had to be born with some kind of power! You made your father and I the laughingstock of London because of the stories we were forced to make up for you! You ungrateful..."  
  
"Enough!" Jean shouted both with her mind and her mouth. Her parents flinched away from her in fear, their eyes growing wide in surprise. Jean looked at them in anger, understanding finally that they would never love her, no matter what she did.  
  
"I see now that you will never love me; your own flesh and blood." She said. "I also see that I don't care if you love me or not. I have people back at the school who care about me and one who even loves me and wants to marry me!  
  
"I came here to offer an olive branch and you two have instead beaten me with it. From this moment on I shall do as you wish and leave you alone. May you be happy with your choice!"  
  
With that, she turned and left her parents behind. 


	12. 12

Kurt had to use all of his willpower not to throw up. The streets were nothing more than mud and filth from animals and humans alike. All he could see was poor people walking about; some of them escaped slaves who kept their brands hidden from the general public. There were also a few public drunks out all ready, stumbling down the streets and bellowing at people only they could see. There were also the insane who sat in the middle of the road or wandered around, making strange jerking motions or something in some nonsensical language only they knew.  
  
But it was the children that upset him the most. He saw young girls selling themselves to slobbery old men with only a few blackened teeth left, young boys in opium dens, and on one occasion he was forced to try and stop two boys from killing each other over a single quid. As a reward, he received a slash on his upper arm and he was nearly beaten by one of the boy's fathers for trying to stop his boy from getting some money.  
  
Continuing on, Kurt went down one of the worst streets and sure enough, he found the Filthy Swine. The only reason why he did so however was because a man was thrown out of the window badly beaten.  
  
"Oh lucky me." He mumbled, entering the place. He was instantly hit by the smell of puke, excrement, sweat, disgusting congealing food, and sour beer. His eyes burned and he nearly ran out of there, but he thought about Betsy and he stopped himself. Sighing, Kurt closed his eyes and he concentrated on sending his thoughts to Jean. When she finally responded he told her where he was before a large sweaty hand slapped him on the back. A tankard of ale was shoved under his nose, splashing him a bit.  
  
"Come on, lad!" the man said in a bellowing voice. "All you're doing is standing there! You might as well have a drink!"  
  
"No, I'm looking for someone." Kurt said. "I'll just be going..." The man blocked his path with one beefy arm.  
  
"You can go after you have a drink with me." He said. Seeing that there was no other way around it, Kurt reluctantly took the tankard and he took a big swig.  
  
An instant later he spit it out, amid the laughter of the whole bar.  
  
"You're all right, lad." The man said, placing an arm around his shoulders. "Now who are you looking for?"  
  
"A woman by the name of Betsy Braddock." Kurt said. "Where is her room?"  
  
"Up the stairs." The man said. "Room number twenty."  
  
"Thank you." Kurt said, moving as fast as possible to get away from the bar and its patrons.  
  
"No problem! You can always count on Pete Wisdom!"  
  
Kurt sighed, shaking his head as he reached the top of the stairs. The sooner he got out of here the better, and he started down the hall, checking the door numbers; discovering with some despair that a few of the numbers on some of the doors were missing completely, and there was no sign of any order in them at all.  
  
Growling softly, Kurt thumped his forehead against the wall. What was he going to do now? Open all of the doors without numbers to see if she was in one of them? And what was he going to do about the ones that were closed anyway? Teleport inside and scare the crap out of anyone who was inside.  
  
They really should have thought this out more before splitting up to find her.  
  
Well, at least he could rule out some of the rooms right away. He could clearly hear screams of sex coming from behind some of the doors, and it was obvious that Betsy wouldn't be in one of those.  
  
Maybe he should listen to each door to see if he could find her that way.  
  
Behind one of the doors he heard someone crying and he figured it was Betsy, but instead of just barging in, he lightly knocked on the door.  
  
"Who is it?" someone asked from inside. "Is that you Brian?" Kurt blushed faintly, thinking of what he should say.  
  
"Actually, no." he said. "I'm not your brother but..."  
  
"Leave me alone you stupid drunk!" she shouted angrily. Kurt winced as he felt something press against his temples, and he guessed that it was her doing somehow. "Why can't you bloody people leave me alone!?" she cried angrily.  
  
"Please, I'm not drunk, I'm here as a friend, Betsy." The pressure was removed and there was a moment of silence.  
  
"How do you know my name?" she asked. "Do you know my brother?"  
  
"Yes, but I don't think you want to hear about that." Kurt said. "I know your name because I have two friends who are like you. I'm like you too, well not really, but I was born with a gift too, Betsy. That's what you have, a gift."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Betsy asked.  
  
"You're like my friends Charles Xavier and Jean Grey. They can read people's minds too, Betsy. That's why I'm here. I'm here with two others who should be here shortly in fact. If you would open the door, we could talk about this better without me saying this so that others can overhear me." The door slowly opened, and Kurt found himself looking at a young man whose face was wreathed with pink and purple light in the shape of a butterfly.  
  
"You're name is Kurt Wagner." She said softly. "Come on." She stepped aside and Kurt walked in before she shut and locked the door once again. "What can you do?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.  
  
"I have two things actually." Kurt said. Taking out a handkerchief, he removed his hat and started to wipe off the make-up on his face, revealing his blue fur underneath. His tail uncoiled from around his waist and it swung freely, cracking a bit to get the kinks out of it.  
  
"I can also teleport." He said. "Please don't start screaming." He added hastily. Betsy sat down on her bed, looking at him quietly.  
  
"A lot of people have hunted you down for how you look." She said. "And because you're Rom." She added. "You know my brother because he came to your school to find your brother and sister."  
  
"I can't keep secrets around you now can I?" Kurt laughed, sitting down in front of her. "Do you trust me now?" Betsy nodded slightly, looking at him quietly.  
  
"Good, because that makes things a lot simpler for us." He said. "We plan on taking you back to our school. To learn how to use your powers better."  
  
"I don't think my brother would like that." Betsy pointed out.  
  
"Your brother hunts people down just because of nationality." Kurt pointed out gently. "Do you really think he's doing you any favors by locking you up in here?" Betsy looked away, slowly shaking her head.  
  
"Not really." She admitted slowly.  
  
"Then why not come with us?" Kurt asked. "I assure you that you'll make lots of friends there, and you won't be so lonely there! But there are rules, and the most important is to enter with an open mind. If you can do that, then you're welcome there with open arms, Betsy." Betsy thought about it, looking down at her feet. For a moment, Kurt thought that she was going to say no, but when she looked up at him with a smile, he knew that it wasn't so.  
  
"All right then, Kurt Wagner." She said. "I will come with you and your friends to this school of yours."  
  
Jean and Rogue came a while later, surprised and glad that Betsy had all ready agreed to come with them back to the school. They helped her pack her small belongings and as Kurt put on make-up to hide his face once more, Jean went to get their horses.  
  
While they were doing this, Betsy wrote an innocent note to her brother, slipping it under the oil lamp so that he would find it when he came back.  
  
When Jean came back with the horses, they were waiting for her outside, Betsy wearing a cloak with the hood up to hide her face. Koro Grast approached Kurt and Betsy immediately, nuzzling Kurt's head before he slowly peered under Betsy's hood to get a better look at her face. Laughing, she stroked the irresistible Holstein's nose, which made him neigh in delight.  
  
Hoping onto Koro Grast, Kurt held out a hand to help Betsy up, but she climbed up by herself, laughing softly as he looked over his shoulder at her.  
  
"I'm not an innocent little girl you know." She said. "I've ridden a horse before!" Laughing the four rode off to the school.  
  
***  
Brian came back to the Filthy Swine three weeks later, his going side- tracked due to a small group of Rom captured near the border who needed to be dealt with. When he entered the room, he became furious and he went downstairs, beating every man he caught, shouting where was his sister.  
  
Pete Wisdom told him that some young man had come weeks ago and taken her with him, but he didn't know where he took her.  
  
Brian went back into the room to find clues, and he found the note under the oil lamp. When he read it once, he almost didn't believe it, when he read it twice he started to.  
  
The third time, he screamed in fury and ripped it up.  
  
He knew that there had been something strange about that school! Now those bastards had done something to his sister and brought her back with them.  
  
Oh, he wasn't going to take this kind of thing lying down. He was going to make them suffer for this!  
  
Angrily he stormed out of the Filthy Swine and he rode off to get his soldiers to go on a raiding mission. 


	13. 13

Betsy fit in easily when she got to the school. Kurt and the others helped make her feel welcome, and she was soon taught by Charles how to control her powers and put up shields to make sure she didn't hear anyone's thoughts when she and they didn't want to. This in turn got rid of the light that was surrounding her face and everyone saw how young and beautiful she was.  
  
She made fast friends with Jimaine and Ororo, and the two were sometimes quite inseparable. This made Kurt and Stefan jealous at times, and sometimes they felt like they needed a crowbar or something to peel the three away from each other for even a minute to talk to one of them alone without the other two right there.  
  
"I'm starting to think that you like her company more than mine, Ororo!" Kurt once said during one of their star-watching nights. Ororo had simply shrugged and nudged him lightly in the side.  
  
"Who says that that isn't true?" she had asked. She laughed when Kurt looked at her with a hurt expression and she kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I'm only playing with you, love." She said. "You can never be replaced." With that, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and led him back into the school.  
  
However, Brian had a vendetta against them, and in a month or two he came back to the school with the best soldiers His Majesty felt obliged to give him to deal with the school. Twenty-five men in all, but they were the best in hunting both man and beast, and the King felt that with Brian they were enough to take down this so-called school.  
  
***  
It happened unexpectedly, when the three residents telepaths let their guards down and stopped scanning for any intruding thoughts coming towards the school. They were all outside and in a large field, which Charles had added onto his property not long ago. They laughing and playing around as they planted flowers and so on to make it look more colorful.  
  
Betsy and Jimaine had just jumped soil on Stefan's head when the first arrow flew and sunk itself into the basket. Everyone got into a defensive stance, but they soon found themselves surrounded by the soldiers, each one of them armed and ready to turn them into pincushions.  
  
Brian walked up into view, his broadsword in hand and ready to cleave anyone who tried to do something.  
  
"Charles Xavier, you and your students are under arrest for the multiple charges of kidnapping, aiding and hiding Gypsies in your home, and for witchcraft and devil worship." He said.  
  
"Devil worship?" Remy asked, placing his hands on his hips. "Mon ami, you have got to try and come up with something better then that!" One of the soldiers fired an arrow and he caught it, charged it, and threw it back at him, starting the fight.  
  
Logan was forced to restrain himself from killing the men. He simply knocked them up with punches to the face instead, adding a few kicks here and there for good measure to vent his anger out on something.  
  
"Scott, undo your cloth." Charles said.  
  
"But what if I kill someone?" Scott asked.  
  
"Narrow your eyes and just try to clip them." Charles advised. "Don't worry about it, Scott!" Nodding, Scott slowly untied the cloth covering his eyes and he opened his eyes slightly, red light erupting from them instantly and striking down one of the men's horses with an agonized scream.  
  
Scott turned his head left and right, striking down two of the men before he was struck from behind with an arrow in back of his left knee, forcing him to fall and close his eyes to stop himself from hurting anyone he didn't want to.  
  
Brian immediately threw himself at Stefan, swinging wildly as he tried to take off his head. Stefan was too swift for him, and he was able to swing around and grab one of Brian's daggers to fight back with.  
  
"Come on you stupid Gadje!" he said, holding out the knife. "Let's see what you can do facing someone who is armed and ready for you!"  
  
"Filthy Gypsy!" Brian roared, swinging his sword at his head. Stefan dodged the blow and he flicked the knife at Brian's face, nicking his cheek and leaving a line of blood behind that began to bleed slowly.  
  
"Rom, Gadje!" he said. "We didn't come from Egypt!" Stefan continued to fight with only the dagger until it was knocked out of his hand and he was kicked to the ground. When Brian's sword nearly struck him down for good, Kurt teleported in and grabbed Stefan, teleporting away just in time to save his brother, but not spare himself a deep wound in his back.  
  
When they reappeared he fell onto his hands and knees, gritting his teeth against the searing pain. Stefan tried to help him up, but he found himself and Kurt facing four men with their long swords drawn, and he was forced to raise up his hands in surrender.  
  
"We need to give up!" Rogue shouted over to Charles. "Unless ya'll are going to make their heads pop we need to jus' give up righ' now before anyone gets killed!" Even though he didn't want to admit it, Charles saw that Rogue was right. When he opened his mouth to shout their surrender however, Betsy ran up to her brother and stopped him from slashing at a winded Sean.  
  
"Stop this, Brian!" she shouted. "No one kidnapped me! I said so in that note I left you!"  
  
"Get out of the way, Betsy!" Brian snarled. Betsy narrowed her eyes and she stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"No, brother!" she said. "Tell your men to stand down and leave everyone alone! They haven't done anything to you or anyone else for that matter!"  
  
"You don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Look at me, Brian! Do you see those lights on my face anymore?" Betsy asked. "I don't hear those voices in my head either. Do you want to know why? Because these people helped me learn how to control my powers! They helped me, Brian. They didn't hurt me in any way!"  
  
"They kept Gypsies hidden here, Betsy. That alone sends them to the dungeons!" Brian pointed out.  
  
"They're called Romani, Brian." Betsy said angrily. "Gypsies are people who come from Egypt and besides, why do you need to kill them anyway? I've made friends with Stefan, Jimaine, and Kurt and none of them are evil, Brian. They're just like you and me."  
  
"They've been lying to the King..."  
  
"So have you!" Betsy said, silencing Brian at once. "You never told him about me did you?" she asked.  
  
"You know I couldn't do that." Brian said.  
  
"And why not? I was hearing voices and had lights in my face. That makes me evil and a witch doesn't it? It condemns me to the dungeons doesn't it?" she asked. "Don't you even know your own laws anymore, Brian?"  
  
"I couldn't give you up to the King!"  
  
"And why not?" Betsy demanded.  
  
"Because he'd... Kill you..." Brian said slowly. Betsy swept an arm over the battlefield at the others.  
  
"They haven't done anything wrong, Brian." She said. "They've just been living their lives and learning how to use their powers to help normal people. Do they deserve to die just because they're different?" she asked.  
  
A groan interrupted them, and looking to the side Brian saw Stefan slowly helping Kurt to his feet, the wound on his back bleeding badly.  
  
"Look what you've done." Betsy said. "Kurt may die from his wound if he is not helped right away, and all because you couldn't have a little mercy in your heart!"  
  
"Turn back." Brian ordered. "Grab those who can't move and head back to the base, we shall work out a story from there." Some of the men wanted to refuse, wanting to point out the fact that it was against the law to help those who aided Gypsies, but one look from their leader's eyes said that they would most likely lose their heads if they even dared to say something like that.  
  
"I suggest that you move somewhere else." Brian said. "The King wanted this place burned to the ground."  
  
"I'm proud of you, Brian." Betsy said with a smile, hugging her brother tightly around the neck.  
  
***  
Kurt's wound took a few months to heal, due to the fact that they were forced to move to Paris to avoid any further problems from the King of Britain. The only trace of his wound was a thin milk white line that went from the middle of his shoulder blades down to the small of his back.  
  
Remy was able to steal a few royal documents and in time they were a legal school where those who were discovered to have powers or some "abnormality" about them could be brought in to be taught by Charles and the others.  
  
Some of these "abnormalities" were normal physical or mental differences, but Charles took them in anyway, figuring that he would give them a better chance than the mental institutions they had out there where they were beaten and locked up in cages.  
  
The school started out at the same size as the one they had in London, but it soon grew into something akin to its own castle, due to the large buildings they had to build around the original to accommodate to new arrivals they received monthly; first from just France, and then the rest of Europe, including a few from Russia, Africa, and even China and Japan.  
  
Ororo and Kurt were unable to marry in the traditional sense, due to laws dealing in such matters, but they did produce a child, and Jimaine pointed out that that was a good enough bond as any to show that the two were together forever.  
  
They had a son, whom they named Bayard. The boy had a blue fur and a tail like his father, but the eyes and shocking white hair like his mother. The boy played endlessly with the child of Jean and Scott's; whose name was Rachel, and also with his cousin, the daughter of John Proudstar and Jimaine named Lilia.  
  
Their school was a prosperous one, and for years to come it lasted, and the idea of those with gifts; who became known as mutants in the 1950's, and those without could live together soon became a reality, and the original place where the school once stood in London was turned into a park, and the building in France was renovated and turned into a museum, showcasing the history of the mutant's struggle for acceptance in society.  
  
Das Ende 


End file.
